Like Mother, Like Son
by AyumiUK
Summary: Anna couldn't understand what her boss was saying. Moreover, the woman didn't know where she was, what an infant was doing on the floor... and why the heck was he calling her 'Mama? Renegade!Lloyd, Kranna.
1. Happened all at once

I've never read a renegade!Lloyd **and** renegade!Anna fic and the idea seems interesting enough. I shouldn't have problems with updates because the fic's mostly written, for once.

If you think I'm copying your idea, please, drop a message and this will be forever removed.

Disclaimer: I don't own Namco, ToS or any of its characters. I do own my crazed fangirl mind and a netbook, mister Natty Boo-kies the First. One should name one's most prized possessions, right? (even if it's not technically a name). Oh, and there's honey Popcorn (desktop with UTAU installed and running perfectly) and Lilac (Wii) too! *dances happily*

_The parts in italic are flashback._

'Thinking'

"Speaking"

A merrily happy Christmas to you! Ho-ho-ha-ha Mwahahahahaha! You gets ficsies and updaties for tolerating (or not) this stupid wannabe writer! :D

Oh, since we don't eat Gingerbread or Mince Pies in Brazil, you all get Panetones!

*off to do Christmas stuff coughscanherfanartscough and create a DA account*

* * *

Like Mother, like son

Chapter One: It happened all at once

---

The half-elf watched it all, like always. He knew everything, kept track of everyone. But Yuan Ka-fai could never predict the actions of one Kratos Aurion.

They had been friends for more than four millenia, yet the Renegade leader never managed to read the human's thoughts. Especially when said man went against his former pupil's orders, descended to Sylvarant and married a ranch prisoner that happened to be one of his spies who had her cover blown by Kvar himself.

Unpredictable indeed, but not entirely unwelcome. 'Kratos has finally come to sense and realized Mithos' hatred has long corrupted his heart', he thought, glad as his years upon years of bitter eternity allowed, anyway.

Anna had been with the renegades since she was fourteen.

---

_"You're worse than half-elves, your abomination!"_

_The eight years old girl heard that everyday, yet it always stung the same. Her mother was a gentle human merchant from Triet and her father, an ex-Desian who blamed himself for the harshness his family had to go through because of his foolish actions._

_The only one who never looked down on her and treated Anna as a friend was Liet, the Chosen of Regeneration. The two were sitting on the docks, sharing some freshly picked strawberries with wide smiles._

_"Say, Liet, how is it like to be the Chosen?" Anna asked, happily swinging her feet on the water._

_"I don't know... many things just aren't right in the world. I want to change that one day." Her smile showed a strong will power._

_"Must be tough..." the brown haired girl mused, "Living so far from your other relatives..."_

_"Oh, but I go to Iselia twice a month! Mom's the head priestess there. I pray at the Martel Temple and we spend a whole day together! Then, big sister Irina cooks a delicious meal and we talk until dawn... oh, there's also Frank, sis' fiancé..." She trailed._

_"Why are you in Luin? I mean, Iselia's the Oracle city and all, right?"_

_"Iselia is the Village of Oracle, but I have duties in the Tower of Mana. When my sixteenth birthday is near, I'll go there and fulfill my duties as a Chosen."_

_"Can I come with you?"_

_"I'd love if you accompanied me, but we have to ask Mom first, okay?"_

_"Right! Promise you'll try asking your mom and I'll become strong enough to protect you!"_

_"I promise."_

_-_

_And Anna kept her promise. She asked her father to teach her magic and balanced well between ofense and support spells. The girl went to the point of practicing for fifteen hours nonstop and collapsing from exhaustion. Her mother had stocked extra orange gels just for her, as Anna managed to use five a day when going easy on herself. The amount she earned from defeating monsters soon was enough to cover the items and even a new weapon once in a while._

_-_

_"Frank, Anna, Laureane and Serge. I trust my daughter to you." Declared Phaidra, in her usual calm tone. Five years had passed since their promise.  
_

_-_

_'The Balacruf Mausoleum is the perfect place for two little girls disappear', he mused._

_They had hidden in there, waiting for the Chosen, ambushing like no predator could ever do. This girl who didn't let go of the Chosen didn't faze Botta at all. He knew whoever she was, the young female wasn't a threat._

_Swiftly, they knocked the duo._

_A simple warp and they were far enough so no one would intervene. They planned on disposing of them on the spot, but decided against it as the Chosen's female companion slowly got up. "Huh?"_

* * *

The baby changed everything. In fact, Yuan was shocked beyond shocked when one day, the couple knocked on his base's door asking for a rather... strange request: to be their son's godfather.

He looked at the baby, who was sleeping peacefully on Noishe's back. The one word he uttered immediately after their request was the most illogical, absurd answer he had given in the last thirty nine centuries. "Yes."

Kratos stared at him, his human wife--the Renegade's long thought to be dead subordinate--cradling the newborn. "Why not? Lloyd is my best friend's son, isn't he?", the renegade added, smiling weakly.

---

We decided they'd live in my Iselia hideout because no one would suspect the two fugitives to be right beside a Human Ranch. The first thing I did when they were safe was to get a keycrest for Anna.

Their new home was well hidden amidst the forest. The small entrance was hidden by a camouflaged door that resembled the sewers in Meltokio. We placed a boulder on it to perfectly blend their existence to the ambient.

I got to see an infant Lloyd speak his first words and walk his first steps. Anna's face seemed younger each passing day, her vivid brown eyes shining with an emotion I hadn't felt in a long time. Even _stoiKratos_, the heartless Tethe'Allan bastard, smiled once in a while. It was a good change and a way to confront Yggdrasil. I was hiding his precious Angelus Project, wasn't I? I was killing two birds with a single stone. Or, in this case, killing a crow by saving a canary. Yes, that was _perfect_.

---

As good fortune ends so fast, I was on my way to celebrate Lloyd's third birthday and found a destroyed hideout instead. The secret passage had crimson stains with a scent I'd grown so tired of during the war: Blood. I advanced through the narrow tunnel and found the furniture in ruins, marks of a violent conflict all along the once rosy walls.

They had been spotted. I'm not sure how, but they did. Before I could even open my mouth to gasp, my legs had already started moving. I ran as fast as I could, frantically searching for any sign of Kratos, Lloyd or Anna, the first woman I grew to respect as a friend after Martel's _incident_. The few monsters that dared target me couldn't keep ut with my pace and eventually gave up.

I finally found the trio, surrounded by Kvar's men, at the edge of a cliff. 'What are they doing in Forcystus' territory?' Then I noticed it. A horrified sigh escaped my lips. Anna was an Exbelua? And Kratos... Kratos' sword, the proud Flamberge was embedded to his wife's chest, its usual glow subdued as if grieving for its master.

"Lighting Strike!"

At the exact moment Kratos removed the sword from the dying form of Anna, Kvar cast a spell that sent Lloyd, Noishe and Anna down the abyss.

The scene hit Kratos so hard he couldn't move, he just gazed at the spot his family had fallen from, dull, completely devoid of emotions for a moment before screaming their names. He kept on desperately calling for them for what seemed like hours, almost as if he believed calling out loud enough could miraculously bring them back or at least, at the very least, make him forget it all, hand his soul to Death's embracing arms.


	2. Dirk, the Dwarf

Disclaimer at the bottom.

* * *

**Dirk, the dwarf**

The Desians had left a while ago, but we-- as in Kratos and I-- still couldn't move. He was in too much pain to do so, while, in my case, I was still trying to put the pieces together and figure something out.

Then, a bright light surrounded us and he appeared.

Yggdrasil approached his former master as a small child, pretty much like his old gentle and caring side, gone for so long. He nearedKratos and whispered something I couldn't hear, despite my enhanced senses.

The man didn't seem to hear him, so he tried it again and again.

Still no response.

Yggdrasil was growing tired of that. He simply warped away, the dull body hanging from his right shoulder.

I let a sigh of relief, realizing I had stopped breathing since finding the destroyed hideout.

Then, a soft cry finally reached my ears. Lloyd!

I jumped the cliff and unfurled my wings to ease the fall. Anna's irregular intakes of air were there, growing fainter till it was alarmingly weak. I quickly located them and put to use my healing arts. "Resurrection!" I shouted.

Resurrection... the spell Martel was developing along Master Boltzman and I... if we had finished it in time, she'd never... no, I have to concentrate on saving these three!

---

Anna's breath had normalized, but she and her son were still unconscious. Noishe's wounds were mostly cured, but he'd probably never forget what he'd witnessed that night--those were the true scars, the ones that marred the soul, stained the heart and attached their existence into the very core, to the point of madness. They took my friend, my brother in law. The Protozoan'd never be the same and I was sure neither Anna or infant Lloyd would.

I placed the woman on the Protozoan's back and carried Lloyd towards Iselia. On our way, we found a dwarf. "Hello, could you please help us?" I called. Their Vows were well known around the world because they were followed rigorously by all those withdwarven blood. Or almost all, at least.

He immediately turned, "What's happened to you?" His brows furrowed in worry.

"Desians", I spat.

"I see..." He then noticed the exsphere. "Why is she using a crestless exsphere?"

"The Desians placed it on her. Could you make a key crest for her? I can pay well."

"No need to. I can't charge you for that. Feel free to rest at my house as long as you need."

"Thank you." Yuan bowed.

"Dwarven Vow number two: Never abandon someone in need."

---

"Here it is." Dirk placed the key crest on Anna's pale hand. "She should be back to normal in no time!"

"I can't thank you enough for this, mister Dirk."

"Just Dirk is okay. By the way, you aren't the young one's father, are you?"

"No, that would be my friend. I'm just taking care of his family for the time being."

"May I ask what happened to him?"

Yuan's face darkened, "He's not among us anymore..."

"Oh, I 'm sorry."

Their somber conversation was interrupted by a groan. They both turned to look at Anna's awaking form. "Where..."

"Anna?"

"Lord Yuan?" She asked, surprise evident in her rushed salute.

Face devoid of emotions, he proceeded, "Do you know where you are?"

"No..." She analyzed her surroundings. "This doesn't look like a base."

"You're correct. What was the last thing you did?"

"I was handing my report about the Luin Ranch... oh no! Did I do anything wrong, sir?"

Skilfully hiding the shock, he replied, "No, that was alright. Just... don't you remember doing anything else afterwards?"

"Should I?"

* * *

End Chapter

* * *

If the story sucks or people don't read, I'll have to rewrite. Not that I really mind rewriting to improve, it's just that it can take some time. So... review, please?...

The chapter actually ended in a cliff! Wow, never thought I'd do that. This one's short even for my standards, though. So, extra big useless author's note ahead [with stupid making-off!]! You don't really have to read it, unless you want to know how this fic is written. Or how a psyco fangirl mind works during Holidays.

Thanks for reviewing/alerting/faving the story!

-

I should call someone to help me in here. Lessee...

Martel, I summon thee!

Martel: What?

Could you please be my muse in this fic?

Martel: Okay... but I'm not available all the time. I have a tree to guard, remember?

Oh yeah. Well, I (unfortunately) have other things to do too, we just have to sync!

Sync: *appears in poof of smoke* What-

Omigosh! KYAA! *tackles*

Sync: Let me go, you stupid fangirl! As if Ariet-

I heard it right? You're lovey dovey with Arietta? *grins for no reason*

Y-you didn't hear anything! *storms out of writer's mind*

Martel: children... By the way, the author doesn't own the 'Tales of' series (that includes ToS and ToA), Namco does. She owns what she owns and that's so little she could barely buy a copy of ToS DotNW and a few other games for her self-given Christmas present. So there's no money in case you sue her. She does have some lychee candies stocked somewhere in her kitchen. If I'm not mistaken, they just expired last month--you won't want to eat those.

Hmmm... things could always get worse if he fell in love with Tear's bro... that'd be creepy. Arietta is cute. And she's a female. But Ion sure is feminine too... Argh! Dizzy...

Martel: What? Are you still fangirling over Sync?

No, just thinking about pairings... SyncxArietta, IonxSync(???) or SyncxVa-

Martel: *runs away*

Hey! Wait!

Martel: I'm gettin outta here now, you creepy fangirl from the deepest parts of Niflheim!

Come back, pleeeease?

Martel: NO WAY!!!!

* * *

Tada-dada!

The author succesfully scared Martel to life (death?)! 20Exp

Level up!

-5 HP

+10MP

+0,01 WP (Writing Power)

+5 FP/CP (Fangirling/Creepy Points)

* * *

Oh, FP/CP basically serves to scare people away and do creepy laughs at random moments.

This uber stupid little making-off of sorts was made to relieve the authoress from the angst in this chappy. She didn't remove it before posting cause she's lazy.

But if she's lazy, why is she writing explanations instead of deleting?

Anyway.

Seeyabyebyegottago!


	3. Remember Me?

A/N

The first chapters were on Yuan's PoV. Hope that wasn't too confusing. Also, this is in third person.

Warnings for this chapter: KRANNAKRANNAKRANNAKRANNA!!! YES! (even if it's a flashback...)

This chapter is divided in three parts: present, a brief glimpse of the future and the past.

---

Chapter 3

Remember Me?

---

The finely crafted furniture in the room still kept a rustic aura that made anyone feel at ease, relaxing as uncountable shades of brown blended with the green plants scattered everywhere, almost as an indoors garden.

Lloyd was sleeping on a makeshift bed in the corner of the room, his tightly shut eyes blatant proof of what dreams, what nightmares haunted his shaky mind. His fists held to the sheets with so much vigor it was a wonder they were still intact. The boy was surprisingly strong... thinking about it, his strength shouldn't come as a surprise to Yuan. If angelic traits could be inherited, that is. The man had been researching that subject since his friend had appeared with a newborn half-angel for him to stu- to take _care _of.

Back to Anna... Anna was looking around, curiously taking in the pleasant feeling of the room. Her face, however, showed nothing more than a deep frown. She didn't understand what her boss was saying. Moreover, she didn't know where she was, what an infant was doing on the floor, displaying marks of injuries no one should ever bear.

"Should I?"

"You should rest for now", he stated, walking away. "You need sleep more than anything."

"Yes sir!"

"No need for that, Anna", the Renegade leader grimaced.

Soft snores could be heard from Anna's disheveled form as she simply fainted from exhaustion.

"It's not like you're my subordinate anymore." Yuan added.

"Sleep well, you have yet another hell to go through as soon as you're well enough..." He closed the door.

---

"So, how is she?"

"She's amnesiac. It may happen to a person who undergoes that many traumas at a short period." He sighed.

"I do hope her memory's not permanently damaged."

"So do I", he muttered, "so do I..."

"AH!"

"Lloyd!" They both entered the room. A startled Anna was hugging Lloyd in an attempt to comfort the boy, who was wailing pitifully in her arms. She awkwardly patted his back, trying to figure out what exactly she'd done to him.

"Mama, mama, ma-" A loud sob interrupted his rant.

"Do you know where's your mom?", She asked in a delicate whisper, her grip even tighter.

"Mama, mama is alive!" He smiled weakly.

"What?..."

---

_The Balacruf ruins were indeed the perfect location for two girls to disappear unnoticed by others. That time, Yggdrasil had been careless. That meant no "guard angel" was sent, no one was there to make sure Liet sacrificed herself like a little lamb for a dead "Goddess"._

_Not that Botta was complaining, mind you. He was even glad to some extent. He couldn't feel really happy about the entire situation. The Renegade vice-leader knew it was his duty to bring Cruxis' plans to ruins, but that didn't stop guilt from chewing his insides, savoring the remorse he felt for killing people. The Chosens of the withering world were usually the purest, the most innocent among all, it always felt like he was taking what little goodness still hid in the tainted Hourglass composed of Sylvarant and Tethe'Alla._

_Stomp stomp_

_Anna woke up to find herself locked in a prison cell. "Where... Liet!" She turned to realize the older girl was still asleep, right beside her. The brown haired girl sighed in relief and payed attention to her surroundings. "Hey, Liet, wake up!" She gently shook her friend._

_Drowsy eyes slowly came to focus as the Chosen woke up. "Anna?" She sat on the bed and examined the cell. "Wh-where are we?"_

_"Beats me."_

_They leaned on the prison's bars and spotted a guard wearing clothes they both knew too well. "Desians!" Anna nearly shouted in rage._

_"Ah, so you two are finally awake! Lord Yuan will be pleased!" He seemed to ignore the girl's little outburst, what made her even angrier._

_"Humph."_

_-_

_The Desian soldier grabbed a key and proceed to open the lock. "Follow me", he ordered._

_Liet quickly scrambled to her feet and grasped Anna's hand. The girls looked at each other for a moment, silently asking what they should do. Deciding to follow the soldier for the time being, the brunette nodded, a reassuring grin gracing her face._

_Corridors stretched upon corridors as they walked. "Damn, how big is this thing?", Anna groaned to herself. 'Wait, if they were really Desians, they'd kill Liet on the spot. Those guys wouldn't bother locking us, unless they wanted to have a little __fun, that is, torturing before disposing of the Chosen... even so, we'd be at least cuffed--they aren't that dumb.' She mused._

_The two girls were shoved into a elegantly decorated office. The 'Desian' was taken aback by the lack of resistance. Actually, he felt troubled as they kept walking without much struggle. The younger knew if they were really Desians, nothing good would come of foolish attempts to free herself. She'd wait for the right opportunity..._

-

Years later, Kratos would ask himself where Lloyd's attitude had come from. Then, that sweet memory would yet again worm its way to the surface, painful reminder of his lost happiness.

He let his mind wander freely, its only goal to reach the realm of dreams, the only place where he still found peace. The seraph closed his eyes, a sad smile adding a melancholic touch to his otherwise stoic face.

-

"Stupid Deck brush!" The woman shouted.

"What happened, Anna?"

"I was walking and that damn thing slappe-" She blushed. "Nevermind."

"..."

"What? You've never done this, o mighty four thousand years old Seraphim from the Holy Church of Martel?" She held a hand to her hip.

His answer came as a chuckle. Not a mocking one, just a tender and caring smile...

...Anna, of course, didn't need to know that.

"Oh, Goddess-who-isn't-actually-a-Goddess, if his child wasn't inside me, I'd strangle Kratos Aurion right now, angel or not!" She exclaimed, extending her hands in a mock prayer.

"I'd love to see you try."

"Do you really?" She smirked, pinning his wrists and approaching just enough to connect their lips into a soft kiss, her own never letting go of that grin the man had grown to love above everything else.

"Yes, I do."


End file.
